The invention is based on a process for signalling cost information upon connection establishment in a telecommunications network and to a tariff server therefor according to the preambles of the independent claims.
So-called call handling in the exchange is known. The call handling process is very limited as it does not take the individual subscribers into account but merely determines the tariff rate globally according to criteria relating to time, date, distance and service used. However, this process permits the display of the costs on a charge meter during the telephone connection.
Superimposed on the conventional communications network for circuit-switched connections is a so-called intelligent network (IN) with the aid of which, over and beyond the pure connection establishment, a number of other services can be provided. To use a specific service of this intelligent network, it is firstly necessary to dial a service code. The service code is necessary to reach a so-called service switching point (SSP) which switches the required service on the basis of the service code as so-called service switching function (SSF). For this purpose, the SSP evaluates the transmitted service code and, via a so-called service transfer point (STP), then approaches a service control computer, the so-called service control point (SCP) which then controls the provision of the requested service. The SSP is the interface between the conventional communications network and the intelligent network. STP and SCP are components of the intelligent network. A general description of an intelligent network is to be found in the book “Intelligente Netze” (Intelligent Networks) by G. Siegmund, 1999, p. 31 ff.
A signalling network, which at the present time normally operates using Signalling System No. 7 of ITU-T, is also linked to or superimposed upon the conventional communication network. This signalling system and the associated signalling network are generally known under the abbreviation #7. This signalling system is also used in the intelligent network. The above mentioned service transfer point (STP) of the intelligent network here is identical to the identically abbreviated signalling transfer point (STP) of the signalling network #7. An advantage of the possible services in an intelligent network is the provision of individual bills relating to the costs of the connections. At the end of an IN connection, a call record containing all the important data for this call is created by the SSP and STP. These records are sent to the service management point (SMP), which, in addition to the statistics function, determines the charge information therefrom. In the SMP the reported results of the call or service can be linked with the charge metering by the service provider in order to produce a billing ticket therefrom.
The structure of the specific charge metering for different telephone services constitutes a key point for the network operators. The cost structures for connections are a fundamental means of distinguishing and differentiating between the various service providers. The currently existing methods of determining and displaying costs are unsatisfactory. They cannot provide the relevant customer with information until after a connection has ended.